User blog:Grannelle/The Collector's Journey - The Next Step, Part II
Strangely enough, the first thing I happened to order ''wasn't ''from a vendor - it was from a fellow collector, and he happened to be selling not one, but '''two '''Miro-K's. I couldn't believe my luck. I'd seen them from time to time on eBay, but always for around a hundred USD. Now, I loved "my little monsters," but I wasn't ready to settle down and raise a family with them. Yet this fellow happened to want to get rid of them in a hurry; he was selling each for $30.00! I immediately closed the deal, and a little over a week later I had my first rarities, and a couple of them to boot. During the interim of waiting for delivery he happened to mention that he had several Wanteds and Most Wanteds he was also willing to sell: Skull W, Codi W, 2 Cho W, Tube W, 2 Ufus W, and an Usuzi W, along with a Hiraku MW and an Ichiro MW. I'd never found either in all the packs I'd opened, so I was ready to open my wallet yet again. Strangely, while I was awaiting them to arrive, I had scored an Usuzi W, a Hazard W, and an Ichiro MW in the span of a couple of days. My collection had gone from zero to hero! Without realizing that each was identical, I'd picked up several Gold Series, Part I tins, and a few of the Advance tins as well. Once I learned (to my initial chagrin) that each of the figures in the Gold tin were identical, and that of the Advance tins I'd mistakenly purchase two of the same number/color; yet this was to work in my favor. I realized they would serve as trade commodities, perhaps not right away, but at some point. It was at this point I realized I had the beginnings of a serious collection. I began to focus on each series, restricting my purchases to Series 1 until I had every character. The idea of gathering all 400 available figures at once was ludicrous - I wanted to move past Series 1 and on to 2 - but I made sure I had at least 1 of each. That was when the concept of "dupes," or duplicates, was made known. All of the excitement of finding the next piece needed is invariably tempered by discovering yet another Mosh-Helly-Roy. In time I had all of the individual figures in Series 1, and was well on my way to completing Series 2. I'd also supplemented my W/MW's through lucky draw, trades, and purchases, and while I had at least one of each, I'd also collected several copies as well. The joys of being a collector were refreshingly unique. I had not had a hobby in many, many years; not since my childhood, really. I found myself looking forward to being able to buy new packs with great anticipation, coming home to see what treasures awaited me inside. In an attempt to discipline myself, I would delay opening a pack until I'd accomplished some significant action - finishing a school assignment (I'm a business student), completing daily errands, etc. Getting to open a pack became my reward for hard work, thus increasing my expectancy as well as my eventual pleasure through the delay. (End of part II) Category:Blog posts